Bhubaneswar: The alleged removal of the words “socialist” and “secular” from the Preamble of the Constitution displayed inside the Assembly in BJP-ruled Odisha triggered an uproar on Tuesday, the opening day of the winter session, as BJD and Congress demanded their reinstatement. Ashok Pradhan reports.
“The mysterious disappearance of these important words comes just a day after the Supreme Court confirmed their permanence in the Preamble under the 42nd Constitutional Amendment,” BJD member Ranendra Pratap Swain said outside the Assembly. The controversy erupted during Question Hour when Swain raised the issue, following which party members stormed the center of the House raising anti-government slogans. Congress joined the protest, with legislature party leader Ram Chandra Kadam demanding immediate restoration of the words.
Speaker Surma Padhi was forced to adjourn the proceedings twice due to the disruption. However, BJP MLA Erasis Acharya termed the claims as misleading. “The display shows the original preamble of 1949, before the two words were included in 1976. It has remained unchanged through different governments, including the BJD and the Congress,” Acharya said.